The first rumblings of plans to resurrect the Detroit Electric nameplate surfaced back in 2009, when the group announced a partnership of sorts with Malaysia-based Proton Holdings (then-owners of Lotus) to produce a pair of all-electric vehicles. While many electric-car startups and their founders (paging Elon Musk) spent the following few years under the harsh scrutiny of the public eye and media at large, Detroit Electric maintained radio silence, eventually falling off the radar. In the interim, the company claims to have been carrying out “relentless research and engineering development,” all while many manufactures were beginning to scale back their EV efforts. Undeterred, Detroit Electric returned to the airwaves this week with several major announcements and a shadowy image of what it claims to be its all-electric, two-seat, limited-edition sports car.
Detroit Electric says the car, which we believe makes use of the Lotus Exige‘s foundation, is set to begin production in Michigan this August. The company, whose headquarters really are located in Detroit, says it plans to create 180 jobs in the region within the next 12 months. Detroit Electric has plans for a whole line of cars, too, its dedicated assembly facility capable of eventually supporting an annual production volume of 2500 units.
Chairman Albert Lam, who resurrected the Detroit Electric moniker in 2008, and CEO of North American operations Don Graunstadt both are former Lotus employees. Lam served as the CEO of Lotus Engineering and executive director of Lotus Cars, and Graunstadt was an executive at Lotus Engineering. Such lineage lends further credence to our belief that DE’s upcoming offspring makes use of Lotus components.
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For now Detroit Electric won’t comment on, well, anything, except to inform us that it’s developed its “own EV-powertrain technologies that will feature in all future Detroit Electric products.” The brand says it’ll offer a sneak peak in Detroit in early April before the official unveiling a few weeks later at the Shanghai auto show, where it also will make an announcement about a major partnership with a global automaker. This ought be good.
